Temper, Temper
by Life is not a snapshot
Summary: Lily was no stranger to hot-headed supernatural beings. She figured it honestly couldn't get much worse than Paul Lahote. But damn if Caius wasn't giving him a run for his money.
1. Chapter 1

**Surprise! I'm actually really excited to be telling you guys that I've gotten a request for a story from one of my friends! My good friend, Liz, has asked me to do a story with an OC based on her, and since that was her chosen birthday gift from me this year, I just had to. We actually have the same birthday, April 10****th****, so I do something special for her and vice versa. She's taking me with her to Germany for a month following our graduation! I know it'll probably irritate you guys who are still patiently waiting for ch. 5 of I Thought I'd Lost You, but this is something for my friend. I'm so close to finished with that chapter that I'm getting genuinely frustrated with myself, but I'm having one hellacious time trying to work out Lucian and Blythe's first real contact (other than almost clawing each other's faces off) and I'm hopping that working on something else may move things along. Also, my cousin is a huge Underworld fan and is frankly appalled that I've begun something from the Twilight fandom. He honestly called it sacrilege and gave me a giant lecture about sparkly men and giant puppies. I'm not the biggest fan of the series (it's alright, but there are a few fandoms I like more), but this was specifically what Liz asked for, so I'll try to do it justice for any supper-fans like her which may stumble across this. ****I did a weekend of research into the world of Twilight and she loaned me the movies to watch so that's what I'm using as a basis to work from. That being said, sorry if I screw up any details. **

**Shiny new Disclaimer to be used in all fics from now on: This is a work of fiction using characters from the Twilight series, which is owned by Stephanie Meyer. All characters, aside from my own original character(s), are owned by Stephanie Meyer and I claim no ownership over them, or the world in which the story takes place. This story is purely for the entertainment of others and the events taking place within are not a part of the official cannon. I am not profiting financially from the creation or publication of this work of fiction. **

It was days like this that really made Lily Portis want to resent herself. Because really, she'd done this to herself, intentional or no. Her parents had gotten sufficiently sick of Indiana and, with no great ideas on where to go, they had actually resorted to the whole "throw a dart at the map" thing. And Lily, aged seven, had not aimed in any particular direction. That was how they'd landed in Forks, Washington, of all conceivable places in America.

She wouldn't lie, she liked her life in the small, waterlogged town. However, today had been nothing but nonstop downpours. And running through town on errands had done nothing to keep her dry. She'd given up by noon and resigned herself to being soggy until she could get home.

Her car had been in the shop for two weeks and there was literally no one to act as chauffer for the day. Which left her sloshing through puddles.

Even Paul had no time for her today. Paul Lahote had been the first other kid she'd met after moving to town, never mind that he went to school on the reservation. They were quick friends. He'd always been a bit ill-tempered, but lately he was explosive, and yesterday he had gone nuclear. His imprint, Rachel, had a hard time dealing with Paul's tendency to go ballistic at the slightest provocation. She had taken off to who knows where last night after one of their more spectacular arguments.

Sam had enlisted Lily to leave work early and keep him calm. She'd spent all of the previous night listening to him rant, constantly on the verge of losing it and shifting. Had it been anyone but Sam Ulley telling her to stay she'd have promptly told him where he could go and what he could suck.

But it was Sam, and Lily was still in deep with him and the elders of the tribe for Paul letting the secret slip. She suspected Paul would be at his house, sleeping off a shift or something.

So that was where she found herself, trudging down the road between the town and the neighborhood, soaked to the bone and freezing. The backpack full of books, mail, dry shoes, and a few groceries wasn't making it any easier.

A car engine, a rare thing to hear so late in the morning when everyone should be at work or in school, was actually rather startling. And it was a decent bit more startling when said car stopped beside her. The back right window rolled down and a pale hand waved her over. "Oh great," she murmured to herself, "as if there weren't enough alarm bells ringing already." Well, apparently her stereotypical girl in a horror movie instincts took that exact moment to kick in, because damn if she wasn't walking over.

Inside was an abundance of fine leather, which was about the time she realized there were two sets of seats, facing each other like a London taxi.

Okay.

All three of them were on the backward facing seat, each in a nice looking dark suit. The furthest from her looked to be the eldest. He wasn't looking at her, so concerned was he with staring morosely out the window. In the middle, the one with the darkest hair grinned at her excitedly. And to her immediate right, sat a thoroughly pissed off blonde. Each was pale and she supposed she could say attractive. She froze at the eyes on the middle one, the only one looking directly at her. They were deep, bright red.

Cold ones! The legend instantly flashed through her mind. The middle one's expression changed to confused, and he quirked an eyebrow at her still form. Every curse she knew cycled through her head, if she just ran they'd figure out she knew. She couldn't get away. No chance.

She made a show of shaking her head, acting like she'd been distracted and he now had her full attention. The middle one spoke, a clear, lyrical tone. "Hello my dear. Might you know where I could find the residence of Isabella Cullen?" Well, shit.

/

Lily would like to say that what she felt following that sentence was anything but relief. She'd be a filthy liar, but still.

They were probably just looking for doc Cullen. Not that she wanted anything to happen to the Cullen family. She was on relatively good terms with most of them. Rosalie hated her with a fiery passion and Jasper avoided her like the plague, but the others were never anything but polite, if distant.

"Sure," she nodded slowly, "She used to live next door to me with her dad. After the wedding she moved in with Edward."

He looked ecstatic and gave a breathy sort of 'Splendid!' before gesturing to the other seats. "Would you mind terribly if I asked that you show us the way?" Lily swallowed hard, something she's sure they all heard, before shrugging and sliding into the seat.

"So," she began, sitting her backpack inside and shutting the door, "Do you all know Carlisle or-?" She trailed off at the glare she got from the blonde. The middle guy beat him to whatever snide remark he must have been about to make. "Oh yes, how rude of me! My name is Aro, and these are my brothers, Marcus and Caius." He gestured to each in turn. "We've known Carlisle for a very long time, indeed. You see, we've had a bit of a falling out recently and we've come to patch things up, as it were."

She nodded, feeling sick as she realized just who she was dealing with. What were the odds of the Volturi being the ones to catch her on the side of the road, by herself, in the rain, at barely ten in the morning, with no one to miss her until at least six tonight?

Yep, she resented herself for sure.

"And you are?"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. I'm Lily Portis." There was no real point in lying. If they wanted to, they could find out whatever they wanted about her anyway. Aro smiled. "Wonderful to meet you, Lily."

(AN: What follows is an actual occurrence with Liz, her cousin, and several elderly people. Added via e-mail request of said younger brother)

The rest of the ride would have been fine, she was sure, had her phone not begun blaring a song so dirty even Marcus glanced over at her. She shook her head wildly, heat creeping up her neck and burning her ears at their expressions. "I swear, I did NOT do that. I don't even know this song!"

She could practically feel the blood rush to her cheeks as she scrambled to turn it off, eventually answering the call. "Seth Clearwater, how DARE you change my ringtone again! What if I'd been sitting with my mom or something? Oh God, what if I'd been with dad! He would've had a stroke!

Nothing but the boy's hysterical laughter came through the receiver. Lily smoothed her features out, channeling Sue and Emily and any other woman who she'd ever seen frighten or shame Seth. "Fine, Seth. Fine. I see I'm going to have to put the fear of God into you.

Not only am I telling your mother that you apparently listen to songs that like that all the time, since it's clearly so easy for you to find them, I'll be sure to let her know you thought it'd be funny to use my credit card to buy it. I'm telling Sue you're a pervert and a thief. And she'll tell Sam." His sputtering, panicked voice barely registered before she was scolding him again.

"Hush! I'm speaking. If you ever do it again I will ship you to Seattle in a garbage bag! Got it? Good!" She hung up before he could plead with her anymore and tossed the phone on the seat beside her.

Then she noticed she still had an audience.

Aro looked shocked but oddly amused. Caius was giving her a considering glance, and Lily swore she saw a glint of approval. Marcus seemed content to oscillate his gaze between the three of them.

The attention transformed her back to her normal, docile self and she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just he does that all the time, and I'm getting pretty sick of it."

They drove in silence for a while after this and Lily had taken to starring out the window, occasionally glancing at the men on the opposite seat. They were all giving her considering looks that made her, she believed, understandably nervous given what she knew about them. Both brunettes, though, appeared to be aware of something she and Caius clearly were not. She raised an eyebrow when she thought she caught the brushing of hands out of the corner of her eye. Aro looked rather pleased and he smiled at her anew. This one was a bit softer however, kinder, and she returned a small one of her own despite herself.

It was when she turned back to the window she spotted him. Paul Lahote himself, pacing wildly around his car and fuming. Lily murmured a slightly panicky "Shit!" and looked back to her hosts. "There's my friend, Paul! This is good, I was on my way to his house when you picked me up. I needed to go by his place and grab some things. The Cullen's driveway is about a mile up the road, you can't miss it." The car pulled over without so much as a word to whoever was driving, Aro's benign smile still firmly on her. Marcus hadn't changed expressions since her phone went off, but Caius looked distinctly confused.

"Listen, thanks for bringing me this far." Lily had never been more relived to have a legitimate excuse to leave someone's company. The last thing she wanted was to show up at the Cullen's place with a car full of unfamiliar vampires. Or worse, familiar, unwanted vampires. She had heard from the pack that the last time anything like that had happened, there had nearly been an all-out war.

"It was no trouble, my dear. Think nothing of it." He extended a hand for Lily to shake before she could get the door open. She hesitated a moment before taking it. It took a bit longer than was strictly necessary, and no actual shaking was involved. It was the look he gave her afterward that alerted her to some mistake she must have made. She didn't know what she had done, but it couldn't have been good.

She hustled out of the car and toward Paul. He was breathing hard and his face was nearly purple. "Paul." He whirled around and, upon recognizing her, went off on a familiar tangent. "How can she just leave like this? She **knows** she's hurting me, is that what she wants?" Lily raised her palms in a placating gesture, ready for the type of anger that Paul exhibited in the rare points in his life when he was hurting and could do nothing about it.

"Calm down, I'm sure she's just with Jacob and Becca." He huffed out a breath and ducked his head. He was trying, at least, to get a hold on himself. She couldn't ask for much more than that. "She's not in town anymore! I called Billy an hour ago, he said she just took off to Seattle last night!" He growled and slammed a fist into nearby tree, cracking the bark. This continued until it was swaying and groaning and Lily was sure it would come down on them.

"Paul! Paul, that's enough!" She snatched at his shoulder and he turned so quickly he almost knocked her to the ground. His eyes were watery and red and he drew back at her for a split second. He caught himself though, looking shocked and dropping his fist. "Relax." She tried again, she hoped soothingly as he dropped his forehead to her shoulder when she wrapped her arms around him. "Is everything alright, Miss Portis?"

Paul straightened at the voice, looking over Lily's head to where it came from and growling in his chest at the sight of both Aro and, as he'd apparently been pushed out in his 'brothers' haste, Caius beside the car. "We're alright. Really, thanks for the help. Tell Doctor Cullen I said hi, please." It was as dismissive as she dared to be with him. The dark haired man looked unsure and directed a blank look at Paul, before returning to his car. Caius paused and sneered at the Quileute as he growled again. When they were finally on their way Paul straightened and looked seriously at her. "What the hell were you doing with **them**?"

"I'll explain later. Let's get out of the rain."


	2. Chapter 2

**Short chapter is short and extremely wordy. Sorry Liz. **

Paul had taken the whole thing rather well, all things considered. Sure, he'd called her careless and wolfed out mid-rant, but he'd come back quicker than she'd thought. Lily knew he was just worried, so she spared him any details he was willing to let her leave out. He seemed a little better after seeing her scold Seth when he came to beg for his life. He made a whole case of pleading that she not tell Sue and how it had been a joke and he'd intended it to be harmless. She was quick to let it go, never being one for long periods of anger. It was among the many unconventional reasons she and Paul got along so well. She didn't let people trample her, but she actively refused to hold grudges.

The rest of the day was disarmingly bland, the two of them doing anything they could conceive of to get their minds off the events of the day. It wasn't working particularly well, but they were persistent. Lily's chosen distraction was to distract Paul, and hope nothing would come from her meeting with the cold ones. She wished she could believe herself when she said things would be fine. One thing was for sure, she dreaded tomorrow.

/

She felt marginally better when she woke the next morning, still breathing and with no vampires hovering over her, ready to send her to the grave right along with their secret. It was a rare morning that the pack wasn't eating breakfast together and she was planning to meet with Paul, Quil, and Embry at a dinner in town. The monotony of the morning only improved her mood, though she still felt like she was walking on cracked ice.

She was pleased to see that Quil had Claire with him when she arrived. The little girl was a personal favorite of hers in this odd group she had fallen into. "Hi, Claire bear! You get to spend the day with Quil?" The girl nodded and grinned, snuggled in close with her wolf.

"So speaking of run-ins with crazy, dangerous people." Lily leveled a look at Embry, and then glanced a Paul, before motioning that he continue. "We heard you had the carpool from hell yesterday." he grinned around his fork at her. "Yeah, thanks for the heads up by the way Mr. On Patrol. I thought you guys were supposed to spread it amongst yourself when they come into your territory, what's up with that?" He held up his hands in that universal "hey, don't look at me" gesture. "It's not my fault you're not awesome enough to tap into the perks. And you blocked my number. Can't tell you if you won't pick up."

She threw her hands skyward, slapping them down with more force than was really needed. "I'm sick of drunk wrong number dialing! I'm not your mom, I'm not your girlfriend, and I'm not in a position right now to pick you up in the middle of the night. I don't have a car right this second!"

"It's not my fault you took it to a crook when you could have dropped it with me for nothing!" He sniffed. Lily snorted, "Well, it's not _my _fault you can't handle your booze." Embry gasped. "I will have you know that I am a champ at handling liquor. You're just trying to leave me high and dry. You're just mean enough to do something like that."

"Whoops, you caught me. By the way, I'm breaking up with you. I meant to do it by text later on after your beloved family pet died, but-"

"Well, I never!"

"Guys! Claire says shut up." Quill snickered at Claire, hands clamped over her ears, still trying to eat her hash browns. Embry crossed his arms, "Oh, good job, Lil. Way to make a baby have to face plant in her breakfast." Lily stuck her tongue out in response and went back to her omelet.

"But seriously,' Quill began again, "the kings? All of them? That's gotta be like a record for bad luck or something." Lily shrugged, "They weren't so bad, I guess. I'm alive and I've got all my limbs. That's … something."

Quill snorted, "Oh, sure. Except now they know your name and Doc Cullen probably told them you already know who they are as payback for giving up his hiding spot. Whatcha wanna bet all three of them are at your house, hiding under your bed right now, ready to pounce when you get home."

"There is that, yeah."


End file.
